Another NIO hits the deck

Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO has started delivery of its second production model.

The company was only created in 2014, but has already set a lap record at the Nurburgring and took out the first Formula E driver’s championship.

The latest model to roll off the production line is the 5-seat, high-performance, long-range, electric SUV — the ES6.

With a high-strength aluminum and carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) hybrid structure, the ES6 does the 0-100km/h in 4.7 seconds and has a NEDC range of 510km.

The ES6 expands the design language of the NIO product line with a stylish and sporty exterior complemented by a refined, hi-tech interior.

“The ES6 is NIO’s second mass production model, which we launched after the ES8,” Founder, Chairman and CEO, William Li, said.

“In less than five years, we have delivered two mass production models to our users, fulfilling our promises. We will continue to work on production, quality control, and increasing user satisfaction.”

NIO was founded in November 2014 as a global electric vehicle company.

The company has over 9000 employees working across world-class research and development, design and manufacturing centres in Shanghai, Beijing, San Jose, Munich, London and seven other locations.

In 2015, NIO was the title sponsor for the Drivers’ Championship winning team during the inaugural ABB FIA Formula E season.

In 2016, NIO unveiled one of the fastest electric cars in the world, the EP9.

The EP9 set the lap record for an electric vehicle at the Nürburgring Nordschleife and three other world-renowned tracks.

In 2017, NIO unveiled its vision car EVE and announced that the NIO EP9 set a new world speed record for an autonomous vehicle at the Circuit of the Americas.

NIO officially began deliveries of the ES8, the high-performance electric flagship SUV, to the general public on June 28, 2018.

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Chris Riley has been a journalist for almost 40 years. He has spent half of his career as a writer, editor and production editor in newspapers, the rest of the time driving and writing about cars both in print and online. His love affair with cars began as a teenager with the purchase of an old VW Beetle, followed by another Beetle and a string of other cars on which he has wasted too much time and money. A self-confessed geek, he’s not afraid to ask the hard questions - at the risk of sounding silly.